Dreams Of the Ancients
by Zander-Zapper
Summary: The Enterprise is cast into a strange and distant corner of the universe. Can Jim Kirk save his damaged ship and the lives of new friends? Can he even overcome his personal nightmare?
1. Chapter 1

AN/ re posting with a bit of editing, chapter three will be up later this week

He'd seen this place a thousand times before, but now it was different. The old gray church rose like a ghost out of the swirling, whispering fog as he walked from the edge of the oppressive foliage that marked the border between the wood and this ancient clearing. The stone cobbles beneath his feet were cracked and worn with age as he had never seen them before. As the mist parted enough for him to see the soaring archway that led into the ancient temple horror wrenched his gut; the glittering temple had been reduced to nothing more and a wraith like ruin. Still he took each step reverently, bowing low as he passed through the entrance.

Inside the walls ascended in graceful waves and met in the foggy eddy that obscured his view of the splendid mosaics he knew should be there. It was strange how real it seemed. He wrapped his arms around himself trying to chase off a shiver that he knew had nothing to do with the icy mist chasing his hollow footsteps. The statues recessed into the walls watched him silently, intently praying to some ancient god long forgotten. His fingers curled in the golden fabric of his tunic, it was cold so…cold. A deep spiritual sort of cold that curled around his soul in the same way it closed in on the dark granite alter at the heart of the temple. A piercing beam of golden sunlight shot down from a crack in the ceiling alighting on the altar. As the chilling cloud parted She turned her face to him. Her golden hair flowed down her slender form blending with the watery shimmer of sunlight. Her sapphire glimmered with pain. Her flawless alabaster features etched with concern. She opened her mouth to speak; only silence came forth. She slid from her perch on the great altar; a soft swish of her flowing gown.

"Jim." Her voice called but her sakura-blossom lips never parted. "Jim…" The thought-voice was week and strained.

"We need you Jim."

* * *

Raven's breath hitched in her throat as she ran. Sweat mingled with blood from earlier battles ran in rivulets coating her pale skin thick with grime. The sidhe pride in her blood told her to turn and fight—in the dark of the corridor she would have the advantage. A shower of sparks from the overhead caught her in the side of face, hot brilliance blinding her keen night-hunter's vision. She blinked, dazed. She could hear the Inquisition soldiers behind her; smell them, the fetid reek of human unmistakable.

The siren song of blade and battle rang in her mind, the voice of her sword as real as the feel of its weight on her back. Still she ran on. Her heart pounded painfully letting her know the poison of cold iron was seeping into her veins, already beginning to take hold on her battered body. She knew she had to get away. There was no time. If she died…then so would they.

Time seemed to freeze for Raven as her cloak caught on a jutting snatch of broken conduit. Stupidly she tried yanking the fabric free pulling the chunk of steel along with it. It hit the deckplates with a horrific clang. Her heart froze. They knew where she was now for sure. There was no way she could make it to the fighter bay now.

The inquisition soldiers she had managed to evade earlier came crashing down the corridor bearing plasma rifles stolen from her people. The stink of them assaulting her, she knew there was only one escape now. She tore her cloak free and summoned all that was left of her _chakra_ and _jumped. _It registered to the soldiers as a flash of brilliant witch light.

* * *

"All primary systems offline—Auxiliaries are holding for now but—" the ship shuddered and groaned. A brilliant dagger-bright light filled the bridge for an instant. Suddenly all was still except for the hiss and sputter of damaged consoles, flaring sparks and smoke. I hot chunk of metal skittered across the wildly tilted deck. Jim Kirk's mind could not escape the comparison to an old-time sailing ship half capsized in the aftermath of a hurricane.

"Report." He ordered, his voice barely rose above a whisper—as if speaking any louder would call the wrath of the ion storm back down upon them.

"Auxiliary systems, failing, shields are gone. But the storm seems to have disappeared."

"Correction," came a sturdy Vulcan voice. "The storm has not dissipated, we have been relocated." Jim's eyes widened.

"How—When?" he demanded, but Spock had no answer to give him.

James braced himself against the arm of his chair pushing himself to his feet.

"Engineering Report!"

"Scot here." The engineer's voice was fuzzed and mangled by static.

* * *

Raven's feet hit the unfamiliar deckplates and slid out from under her; a sudden impact with the bulkhead forced the air from her lungs. The lights around her were bright—too bright.

_Oh no, _She thought, _Oh _GODS _NO! _Only a human ship would have lights that bright. She shrank back against the wall, trying to catch her breath, the ship trembled almost imperceptibly beneath her and the lights flickered out. She blinked trying to clear the spots from her vision and crawled backwards along the bottom of the wall until she hit a corner. Her heart hammered and her breath came in ragged uneven gasps. She curled into a ball, pulling her knees up to her chest and burrowing her head in her hands.

"Amok'zet." She whispered his name like a prayer to the mother. She had to stay alive; she had to save him--he was just a childe. A trickle of blood ran down her forehead and into her eyes. When she blinked it away she realized she could see clearly again. The crown prince lifted her head up slowly realizing that some—not all—of the poison sting had left her. She felt the exhaustion that she had been fighting forever sweep over her she was safe here for now until the humans who owned this place found her. The sink was absent. Perhaps this portion of the station…or ship was derelict for the moment. She closed her eyes. Weaving a spell of protection, she was forced to depend on the weakness of human minds to succumb easily to her telepathic suggestion.

_I'm not here _her mind whispered. _you see nothing _Then to exhausted to fear what would become of her were she discovered she collapsed in on herself.

* * *

"How are the repairs going?" Jim asked his chief engineer—just glad to be able to stand on even deckplates again.

"Inertial Stabilizers are back—we've got auxiliary power but I cannae get main power or propulsion back online until I've got the parts and I cannae see where we'll get them."

"What about impulse power? Thrusters?"

"Aye, you'll have thrusters in a few hours."

"No impulse?" Worry etched itself across Kirk's features.

"No Sir, the dilithium crystals are all but shattered." The young captain heaved a great sigh and turned to Uhura,

"What about communications?"

"Damnit Jim! What's the point? We've got no one to communicate _with. _We're dead in the water in the middle of no where!"

"We're not dead yet, put out a general distress call as soon as we've got communications back online. Have anyone who can help with repairs working. Dismissed." He marched out of the briefing room trying not let his unease flicker to the surface.

* * *

Three hours later a distant thumping could be heard throughout the _Enterprise _as the thrusters kicked in. Everyone cheered, some like the Vulcan, did so silently. Spock knew, however that they could not go anywhere until they had sensors operational and the hull breaches repaired at the bare minimum. Sharp Vulcan ears caught the sound of a more subtle clunking—the main generators trying to come back online. They strained and failed again. The sound was becoming a perpetual background feature—like the smells of escaped coolant and charred plastic. Like the sight his captain and friend, running in every direction at once trying to be as useful as possible everywhere a spare hand was needed. If he had let himself, he would have smiled at that dedication and unfailing love of ship and crew.

The lights sputtered back on with a final –clunk- of the generators. Spock's nictitating membranes flipped across his eyes briefly giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the light. As he turned to enter the turbolift something caught his eye. And his mind.

Something just outside his 'normal' range of perception, an idea, a suggestion—after that it only took him a fraction of a second to recognize the telepathic Suggestion for what it was, and only a second longer to overcome it.

* * *

The lights coming back on shocked Raven awake; for an instant she thought she didn't know where she was, than like the breaking of an ice dam the disorientation vanished replaced by frozen dread. And she knew she didn't know where she was.

_Poisoning must be getting to me _she thought to herself _I'm starting to think like a human. _Suddenly she froze, hearing light footsteps walk passed her hiding place, suddenly stop and begin approaching. She tried to repeat her suggestion but it was to late, nothing short of a cloaking device could conceal her now.

_Amok'zet _she thought _I'm sorry _The footsteps stopped in front of her. Raven pulled herself tighter in trying to put as much distance between herself and the human as possible in the cramped corner. She inhaled sharply fearing it would be her last breath—all they had to see was her gracefully pointed hears and she was dead.

When no blow came she sniffed the air carefully. The scent that whispered to her like a caress was not the putrid stench of humanity. No it was something different; clear, smooth like the dry tundra winds of the homeworld she had never known. She opened her large sapphire eyes slowly, looking not into the face of a human but another sidhe. She blinked, no that wasn't possible. Although… it would have been an easy mistake for a _human_ to make. Not for her—his hair wasn't worn long in deference to the goddess Mother, his clothing drab and his scent, while pleasant, calming and stabilizing—was utterly alien. She squinted her eyes closed against the bright light, feeling the ache in her head return. And return with a vengeance it did, she clutched her head and whimpered.

Hot brightness clouded her vision again everything fading into a blaze of nothingness.

* * *

Captain James T. Kirk was currently looking at one of the most—no _the _most beautiful woman he had ever seen. (_Of course, _a nagging voice at the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Bones, _that's what you always think, and you never are satisfied are you?) _

"Who is she?" he asked Spock,

"Unknown."

"Not one of the crew McCoy decided. "I'd recognize her if she was, she's far too young anyway." That was true enough; her grubby, pale skin did have an extremely youthful caste to it. _She doesn't look much older than sixteen…seventeen at the most. _He thought guiltily.

"Do we know anything about her? Race even?  
"No, she is however, a telepath of sufficient—if limited capability." Spock reported. "When I first encountered her she attempted to conceal herself using a rudimentary telepathic suggestion."

"Humph, I wouldn't have done that if I had known there were any real people here not just night-blind human vermin." The trio turned to see the young woman attempt to sit up.

"I'm sorry you feel that way about us humans." McCoy said, moving to the bedside. She seemed to take this as an act of aggression and tensed. Silvery-pale nictitating membranes flashed over her stormy gray-blue eyes, her pupils had narrowed to cat-like slits.

"How come you didn't kill me?" she looked nervously from Kirk to McCoy and back again. _Time for the old Kirk charm. _Jim thought stepping closer to the sickbed. He held up his hands to show that they were empty. She eyed him warily. "I've heard what humans do to their prisoners. I don't care if you torture me I won't tell you anything." Her tone was short, clipped but otherwise lent the illusion of utter calm. Only her tensed muscles betrayed her agitation. Jim almost took a step back in horror—torture?

"We have no intention of hurting you. Whatever you've heard about us isn't true." She seemed to relax a little but he couldn't be sure.

"I want to believe you." The girl said flatly. "But…I just escaped from a horde of Inquisition soldiers—humans who's ships are built with the sole purpose of hunting down Sidhe adepts." A vicious snarl curved her cherry-blossom lips. "For sport."


	2. Conversations

A/N: In my notebook this is written as one big piece…about twenty-two pages long, however I am aware that most people won't be able to read that all in one sitting so I'm splitting it up into three parts. Here's part two. Remember to let me know what you think, I usually review back!

"I can understand that mistrust then. You were poisoned within and inch of your life, that and dozens of injuries I have no idea how to treat because I know nothing about your physiology."

"Who are you people?" She demanded. "What sort of human doctor—at least I'm _assuming _you're doctor—helps _sidhe?_" Her eyes were wide; brimming with wild confusion. She was more wary then ever.

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk; this is Doctor Lenard McCoy and Science Officer Spock.

"Where am I?" She blinked furiously "I _Jumped _without knowing my destination." Spock arched and eyebrow at her explanation. "I teleported," she elaborated.

"You're on the _USS Enterprise_." Jim stated proudly. "Might I ask your name?"

"I am Crown Prince Raven Pryde, of clan Pryde, line of Seth, ka Kalina par Dayfed par Ernyaest."

"Welcome aboard your highness." Kirk bowed, it seemed the right thing to do, McCoy and Spock followed his lead.

"Please, I am merely Raven here, the inquisition has taken this sector, and I have never seen the light of the civilization I was born to rule. I need not be reminded that I was to be Pharaoh."

"Prince, Pharaoh?" he looked puzzledly from her to his science officer and back; Spock could provide him with no answer.

"You're not local are you?"

"No we're not; we're not even sure where local is." Jim shrugged helplessly.

"I can help with that a little." She sat up fully, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "This is the Terra Nova system, once home to Sidhe colonists and humans alike. We've lost sight of our common goals long ago." She tried to stand up and would have collapsed had Captain Kirk not caught her by the shoulders.

"Take it easy kiddo." She fixed him with a glare that said vehemently; _I am no child. _

"Thank you but I don't require any more rest."

"Looks like a Vulcan, sounds like a Vulcan, stubborn like a Vulcan, may as well be a Vulcan." McCoy mumbled under his breath.

"What's a Vulcan?" Raven asked

"I am." Spock stated before the good doctor could make any sort of comment.

"I see…Now is there any sort of showering facility present?" Her noble birth showed through in her tone.

"Right this way."

She suddenly froze.

"Where's my sword?" She demanded.

"In the my office, Go take you're shower I'll get nurse Chapel to show you where it is and get you some cloths.—Christine!"

"Thank you." She bowed first to Doctor McCoy, then to Kirk and Spock.

Raven knew from the moment she had seen Kirk that she could trust him—or rather from the moment she had smelled him. The human had a very trustworthy scent—clean, even though he carried with him trace hints of sweat, the sweat of a hard worker and diligent guardian. All three were surrounded by the scents of a damaged ship, smoke and leaked coolant. McCoy was similar although he smelled strongly of antiseptic. She supposed that was a good sigh and shrugged slightly to herself as hot water ran refreshingly over her scarred body. Were this and inquisition ship—well she certainly wouldn't be spending her time showering, for one thing the humans she was familiar with were fond of killing sidhe not bacteria.

Besides, she shook her hair out—pulled straight with the weight of the water it nearly brushed her waist—these humans had helped her, Doctor McCoy had mostly cured her of the poisoning she had sustained during her days on the inquisition ship.

One thing that did puzzle her though, the tall alien—Spock the Vulcan—he had no scent of iron about him at all…not even the pleasant, innocuous scent healthy sidhe carried about them. Part of that exotic scent was something familiar…something so innately part of her world that she could almost ignore it…something like oricalcum…copper? It was a possibility she'd heard that some species had copper based blood.

When Christine Chapel returned with cloths for her she asked the question, the nurse nodded.

"You guessed right." Was the reply on handing her a folded uniform…most likely one of her own. "Here these should fit you."

"Thank you." She bowed her head respectfully. Raven pulled the borrowed cloths on; the fit wasn't ideal, loose in the chest and waist but narrow in the shoulders. She shrugged, she could live with it.

Raven stepped out into the glare of sickbay, she was slender and elegant but she was a fighter. Jim especially couldn't doubt it, having hauled her sheathed sword just this short distance from Doctor McCoy's office to hand it to her. She took it with a grateful smile and effortlessly shrugged the harness over her shoulder.

"This Humble being extends her gratitude to the honorable Captain and his crew. I offer whatever service I can." She bowed formally.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Pryde." He extended his hand. She stared at it and blinked until he shrugged and shook his head.

"Never mind."

Raven set to work making herself as useful as possible, not knowing a great deal about starships in general, and nothing about federation starships she couldn't do much more than fetch and carry, but that she did readily.

It seemed though that the sidhe were every bit as multi-talented as their Vulcan doppelgangers—and every bit as convinced of their fundamental superiority. _Or it could just be_ _Raven and Spock_, Jim mused. No matter, she made a welcome addition to the crew—bantering with McCoy ("you don't start your public education until five years? Barbaric!" Spock nodded sagely "Barbaric indeed." In fact it was just that conversation that that Jim had walked into in the mess hall.

"Why you green-blooded—"

"—Oi," the golden haired alien interrupted "My blood's redder than yours." That stopped Bones momentarily.

"What now?"

"We sidhe have more iron in our blood than humans—it's part of what makes us so sensitive to magnetic fields."

"More iron...? Than, how come Iron poisons you?"

"Naturally occurring iron doesn't it's something about the process the _humans_ use to refine it…" She glanced apologetically from Kirk to McCoy and back again. "I'm sorry…it's just that before I met you…the humans I'm used to…" she trailed off looking down at the teacup held in her strong scarred hands. Jim put his hand over hers on the table in a comforting older-brotherly manor. Later he wouldn't know exactly what had compelled him to do it—whatever it was it was the right decision. She looked up, her eyes glistening like a stormy sapphire and silver ocean with unshed tears.

"Maybe I should start from the beginning."

"Go ahead, but don't push yourself." She whiped the corner of her eye delicately with the back of her hand, straitening the silver circlet that rested on her forehead in the same thought. She nodded.

"My parents were both born and raised on Terra-Nova, that was before the new Matron Inquisitor came to power. Back then Sidhe and humans just stayed out of each other's way. There was fear and mistrust but nothing to start a holy war over." She took a sip of her tea and continued. "When I was born my biological father left Terra-Nova, he had a deep seeded prejudice against humans…against planet-siders in general. He tried to encourage me as best he could from far away…sending me books and magazines and things…every now and then a letter. To remind me to be sidhe." She shook herself. "Around the same time the Matron Inquisitor took power; she decreed that all Sidhe were demons and spread fear and hate as far as she could." Jim's jaw clenched, Raven's sharp eyes didn't miss the expression. Approval shimmered across her cheeks. "My mother and my new father—my real father raised me to believe that I was human…it was the best protection they could give me. My father had once been and Inquisition soldier but upon discovering my mother's heritage deserted. He made it his personal mission to raise me to be as powerful an individual as he could, subtly encouraging the Ideal me."

"The Ideal?" McCoy echoed.

"To continually seek perfection of the body, spirit, mind and soul. The four pillars of Sidhe society; Honesty, Education, Strength and Honor." Spock nodded appreciatively.

"Rather conducive of a productive society." She blushed at the complement.

"Thank you." She sighed. "You know…at first I believed that I was human…but all around me I saw greed and death…so much needless death." She trembled slightly but her voice remained steady. "I knew instinctively that I wasn't part of that. As I got a little bit older—I was maybe seven or eight—I started to discover things, books mostly I could already read and speak Higher Sidhe and Common. There were fantasy stories that resonated in strange ways with me. At the time I didn't understand why, but late I realized that these books were coded messages for Sidhe children. Hidden truth that the inquisition couldn't burn it away." She smirked, a strange light kindled on her pale features. "I was fourteen when I met the first Sidhe in my life, another prince. But I failed him. He was murdered by humans, it was made to look like and accident." Tears of anger and hatred welled up in her eyes. "Shortly thereafter I was taken from my parents to attend a human residential school. I was fifteen, alone and devastated.

"It was around the same time I met Lord Jezuka Rochez, We discovered our powers. We worked hard to conceal ourselves long enough to at least get offworld were we would had a chance of making it to a StarGuard outpost." She shuddered. "At least I know she made it."

"What would they do to you if they found you?"

"If we were lucky they'd burn us at the stake or shoot us on the spot."

"If you weren't?" Jim asked

"I'm sure you wouldn't know the term." She shuddered at the thought. "They call it crucifixion." The crew around her shrank back in horror.

"But—that's inhumane!" Raven shook her head.

"On contrary my dear captain, it is a characteristically human thing…out here." A tear ran down her cheek and splashed into her now cold cup of tea. "I was there the day Jezuka was given her sword. I saw her ship leave. I've never been so thankful."

"I went back to the school that night. Knowing that I would be free within the year—it was the last prediction she made before leaving.

"It was snowing that night but not cold—my people thrive in harsh weather. I met _him_ that night."

"Who?" Kirk interrupted. McCoy slapped him on the arm.

"She was getting to that."

"I was." She took as sip of her frigid tea. "His name was Amok'zet, a traditional Sidhe name, his spacer father had demanded it. His he was a half-blood. His grandmother was the Matron Inquisitor.

"I tried to hide what I was from her, it was my duty to teach him as much as I could, he was one of my people. I had even succeeded until one dark night I came to hunt with him, she greeted me with fear and scorn, I had tried to lie, to convince her I was human, I almost had when a gust of wind tore my hood from my face." She fiddled with one of the bright studs to draw attention to the arch of her ear. "When a human like that sees a sidhe mage she _knows _what she sees. And fears it."

"She forbade Amok'zet from seeing me again and sent her soldiers after me." More of the crew gathered around the table to listen, but Raven didn't mind. "We met again at a party, and again at school. Eventually I told him who I was, why she wanted to kill me so badly." She cringed. "Instead of abandoning me as I had hoped for his sake he would; he pledged to remain by my side." She swallowed hard and took and sipped her tea to cover her emotion. "We swore clan oath, he became a retainer of clan Pryde, a servant to me." Her gaze hardened "You see the honor of your clan is sacred, if you cannot defend those sworn to you how can you expect to lead them?" She looked up. "it's my duty to save him." She her eyes flickered away for a moment. Kirk caught the expression.

"There's something else you're not telling us isn't there?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yes, there is I'm sorry, It's just, my son…she has my son too." Tears coursed down her cheeks leaving angry red swatches. "I tried to rescue them but I was captured and thrown onto a freighter headed for Terra-Mort." Death World. "I managed to escape and teleport my self here."

"Without any technology?" McCoy asked.

"It's not exactly teleportation; it's called a time/space rift jump. It takes a great deal of _manna_ under normal circumstances, that's the reason I collapsed; I used up all of my _chakra_ in place of raw _manna._" McCoy snorted.

"Not the only reason, If I could I'd give these fools a _real _talking to." Anger flashed in his crystalline eyes. "We'll help you get him back won't we Jim?" Kirk's jaw was set in a firm, stubborn line. He nodded. Spock added his single nod to the wave of consent; the crew would do anything for their new friend. Raven's tears were those of stunned joy now.

"Thank you." She wiped her eye on the corner of her sleeve. "Thank you all." The barest hint of her smile brushed her lips. "But first we have to fix you ship."

AN: Just for the record up to this point all of this was My cousin's onehundred percent...except for that last line. From here on in I'm typing up what she left in her notebook, and making little changes as I go. The style should be fairly consistent though, after all she did teach me much of what I know, and I've given her a few pointers on her road. If there are glaring stylistic differences I apologize.

Zander


End file.
